But they all know the @#%(%#@ quadratic formula. They have no idea what it means, but they know that it gives 'the answer'. Even if there's no equals sign, if you just plug everything into the quadratic formula, you get 'the answer'! :rant:

If she's doing well in TT pre-algebra, I wouldn't assume that she needs to be placed in 5th grade in a different curriculum. If you're concerned about loss of basic arithmetic skills, I'd supplement with mixed review worksheets. I'd make them short, like, 5 problems. If all are worked perfectly, done. If not, another, similar worksheet. This provides motivation to do them well and not just hurry through to get them done, which, frankly, is one of the things that tends to happen with teenagers and review of material they think they know.

I would strongly recommend against using AIG material with an Asberger's student who is already inclined against religion. With specific respect to the 'probability' argument, the OP's son is quite likely to search for and find a site like this: http://scienceblogs.com/evolutionblog/2011/08/16/probability-and-evolution/

I really don't think the mention of characters is a big deal either, if you read one of the later books where the Fossils are (extremely) side characters first, then you'd read Ballet Shoes and be like 'Oh that's where the Fossils came from!' I love all of these books btw, but I think I read travelling shoes the most.

What I'm wondering is how on earth elementary school children are supposed to take care of laptops or ipads? I know when I was a kid it would have been dropped and stepped on inside of a week.

Thanks so much for the information :)

I'd do something else for a while and come back to geometry. Since he did well with algebra, the introductory discrete math books (counting and probability, number theory) from AOPS could be a possibility. Doing their intro to algebra book would also be a very good experience as it goes far beyond most algebra books both in the scope of material covered and in the level of difficulty of the problems. Why not give him some input as well? AOPS has samples online -- see if that's something he'd enjoy, or if he'd rather do geo-without-proofs and then do geo-with-proofs in 9th grade, or do algebra 2 and then geometry in 9th grade.

Yep. I've heard really good things about the BBC coverage from people I know who are doing the same thing. How in the world is showing endless coverage of 'backstory' going to inspire kids to want to go there? All it'd inspire me to do is GET OUT because of them never shutting up about my home life.

Well, what I was meaning (I think I may have been unclear) is that I would put Shakespeare and algebra on the same level. I wasn't dissin' Shakespeare :P I don't think they should be absolutely required for a basic high school diploma (although college prep would be different). I don't think either is absolutely necessary in everyday life for the average person. But I do think they are both things that a capable student should be exposed to. They're not, though, things (imo) that someone who's completely at sea in the subject should be forced to study in lieu of more fundamental levels of understanding. I didn't say that they couldn't. Again, what I was meaning is that I would consider studying Shakespeare to be somewhat higher and less fundamental than being able to write a coherent sentence, just as I would consider studying algebra to be somewhat higher and less fundamental than being able to make change and halve a recipe.

Which 4 years? (i.e. how old were you?) and did you have other mathematics at this time or was it the sole instructional book for those 4 years? I am quite interested in it.

Well, actually, they did swoop in and take me away. They arrested me, because there was a warrant out. After I got someone to pay the fine, they let me go. They applied the precise penalty under the law. And if I'd had a kid with me, they possibly would have ended up in foster care overnight. What's the penalty for unregistered homeschooling? As far as I can see, it's considered the same as if your child were just truant. Just because you don't like the laws or don't think they're necessary doesn't mean that you should be able to break them with impunity. "But the other state has no regulation!" really has no bearing either. It's not like they just forgot to file once, either. They didn't file for several years and apparently didn't get noticed because they weren't on the books at all. Now, I do think the charges filed are excessive. But I can see why the state's apparently just treating it as a case of truancy. Just like, if you're driving on a suspended license, explaining that you didn't realize your license was suspended isn't going to get you a 'well dear, go renew it asap' -- no, you'll get ticketed for driving on a suspended license, and the judge may or may not take that into consideration at trial.

Yeah, I did, actually. I forgot to pay a speeding ticket. Guess what? I found out there was a warrant out for my arrest when the policeman pulled me over.

They'll never get a dime of my money. Why? Because of political lobbying that *I* don't consider related to homeschooling. Yeah, I've read their justification as to why it's related. I disagree.

But -- why is hearing of Shakespeare or Bronte more important than one of the great leaps forward in human thought, namely the concept of variables? (Please note, I'm NOT saying Shakespeare isn't important. But I am saying 'I'd rather have people read Shakespeare than do algebra' is rather biased -- there are plenty of people who would similarly argue that they never enjoyed Shakespeare, never got anything out of it, and could easily have gone their entire lives with more enjoyment having never read it.) About being able to write a basic English sentence, there I totally agree. But I would put being able to compose a literate sentence in the same category with being able to make change or halve a recipe. It's the arithmetic of English.

I would break them into a cup, take a sniff, and assuming they smelled okay, cook them. Eggs smell off *extremely* quickly. You could also cook them up and feed them to an animal if you don't want to waste them, assuming you have one.

I ran out a time or two in my truck with the broken fuel gauge. The one that ticked me off was when my brother reset the tripmeter but only put in 5 gallons.

Well, let's put it this way. I'd *love* to see a shift away from requiring all students to participate in the march to calculus. I'd like to see students able to choose from a much wider array of options, including the basics of financial mathematics, logic (could be instead of geometry w/proofs), and statistical literacy (all of which I think *are* important). Until and unless you can convince universities that students can be good art/history/english/whatever students without having necessarily had algebra 2 and trigonometry, it's not going to happen.

Joy or Joyce Renee Dawn

I think this would sound better, and quite honestly I'd skip the human body and let her do an introductory animal science course instead if she's aimed at veterinary school.

That book looks BRILLIANT. Added to my wishlist. If you're interested, I did some googling and found a bunch of info online for the dartmouth course it was written for -- http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~matc/math5.geometry/syllabus.html

I would do college algebra instead. This does block you from using MUS, but it's a reasonable credit and would prepare her for placement tests. She'll likely need a math credit at university anyway, and if she hasn't done math in a few years this'll be very difficult for her. She could also do statistics, although this option won't review algebra as much. Another slightly out-of-the-box option -- if dual enrollment is an option and she passes the placement test, she could take a math for liberal arts or statistics class one semester and hopefully transfer the credit in to not take math at college at all.

Why do you want to do BJU's high school texts AND Apologia's high school texts? Why not just choose one, and allow some time for electives/advanced placement?

Exactly. I'd be especially inclined to return it if it were a case of something like 'Everything was okay except you used Everyday Math and that was SO bad we decided to homeschool just over that.'

As regentrude said, if it covered the full content of a high school algebra and geometry course it would be completely appropriate to include one credit in each course. This is far more easily evaluated in science/math subjects. It would also be reasonable if somewhat awkward to do a two-year integrated algebra/geometry course and award credits for both after the second year.

Adding to what regentrude said: If he's going to do dual enrollment in the spring, I'd make sure to incorporate some algebra review during the fall, probably once a week. If he's had the summer and fall to forget his algebra, this may make the dual enrollment class quite difficult.